The Costco Auto Program allows Costco members to buy discounted cars through participating dealerships.The program makes a lot of the hardest parts of buying a car — like research and negotiation — easier.But it also limits the customer's options in some areas.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.Shopping for a car can be overwhelming.Even if you know what kind of vehicle you're looking for, you have to decide on the brand, model, and model year you'd like, as well as the dealership you want to use, whether you'd like to buy new or used, and whether you want to buy or lease.Where do you start your research? Which sources can you trust? What's a reasonable price?The Costco Auto Program attempts to eliminate some of that uncertainty.Read more: How to use your Costco membership to rent a carIn the past five years, over 1 million Costco members have purchased a vehicle through the program, which allows members to research and compare vehicles, calculate monthly payments, and get a discount at participating dealerships through the program's website or call center.While the size of the discount varies based on the vehicle's class, brand, and model, a Costco Auto Program representative told Business Insider in 2018 that the average discount was over $1,000 off a vehicle's average transaction price.And since the program is available only to its members, Costco has plenty of reasons to vet dealers and salespeople so their customers don't end up feeling tricked and blame Costco.'We're not just providing leads to dealers — we're creating a referral,' Rick Borg, a Costco Auto Program senior executive, told Business Insider in 2018.Here's how using the Costco Auto Program is different from the average car shopping process.
How Much Can You Save Through The Costco Auto Program
Established in 1989, the Costco Auto Program has become a leader in the auto-buying industry and consistently ranks as one of the top member-based auto-buying programs nationwide. Did you know? In the last five years, more than 1 million members have purchased a vehicle through the Costco Auto Program. Save on Apple MacBooks Get 15% Off Select Apple MacBook Pros and MacBook. I bought the 75' version of this from Costco for $1800 in Nov using my Costco Citi card and bought Square warranty for $99. AUTO-VOX W1 Wireless Backup Camera Kit 4.3' LCD Monitor+ IP 68 Waterproof Rear View License Plate Reverse Back up Car Camera with LED Super. I have read alot of msgs. Regarding money saved by going through the Costco program or Sam's club buying program. Can people tell me how much money I can save by doing this? I have read some people have only paid $500 over invoice. I am currently looking at the Audi A4, Vovlo S60, Saab 9-3 Arc, and Acura TL. Any insight would be great!! These prearranged prices help the buyer save an average of $1,000 per vehicle. Dealerships Are Supporting Costco’s Auto Program As It Provides Them An Exclusive Channel Of Customers. You can buy a car at Costco through the Costco Auto Program and get a pre-arranged, rock bottom price on pretty much any car. However, getting that deal isn’t always easy. However, getting that deal isn’t always easy. • Take a loan against your 401(k), as much as 50 percent of your account balance, or $50,000, whichever is less. • Budget-friendly, tax-deductible plans for just $144 per year. For more information or to sign up, go to Costco.com and search “Nov2013Update” or call 1-855-807-4357. All you need to do is let the dealerships know that you're a Costco member (not sure how this is done), and you'll get the cheap, pre-negotiated price. I have thought about using Costco to buy a car, but I'm a bit leery of the program.
December 3, 2015. I had two awful experiences at car dealerships that were Costco Authorized. Earnhardt Toyota in Avondale Az and Arrowhead Toyota in Peoria AZ. Let me just start off by saying I wasn't expecting the greatest price ever, but I was expecting the types of savings I have come to expect when I shop at Costco. I went on the Costco Auto website and put in my info and was given the name of a local Honda dealership. I called the Costco auto buying dept up and asked if their was another Honda dealership closer to my work and they resent my information to another dealership. My evening started off with deception and high pressure sales tactics and ended up the same way. The sales/pricing managers at both places forged (i.e. created from scratch and put them on a piece of paper that they titled Costco Pricing' their prices and provided me estimates that were just a few hundred dollars off of MSRP (not Factory Invoice) on 2016 Honda Civic LX models with the additional Honda Sensing upgrade. I took pictures of the printouts from both of these dealerships when these people left the room. Online prices for the exact same cars just down the road at another Honda dealership (non Costco) were starting at around 2-2.5K below MSRP or within $100 above or below of Factor Invoice pricing for the new 2016 Civics. I contacted the COSTCO auto buying team about both incidents and then emailed them the pictures I took and screen shots of the local prices I found online from those other Honda dealers. Haven't heard back from the Costco autobuying team yet. Something else of note was that when I was in the car with the first sales person (who wasn't directly part of the Honda Costco program) he even said the price was going to be just under factory invoice and looked shocked when his sales manager brought out my 'special Costco Pricing' which was quite possibly the highest price anyone had ever been quoted who wasn't on a waiting list for a brand new model. I drove down to the 2nd dealership, which was the original Honda dealership Costco had sent my information to, the same night because I was so upset about my first Costco buying experience to see what their price was. I chose not to inform the people at Earnhardt Honda that I had just came from the Arrowhead Honda or what the price I had been given. I was still trying to give the entire Costco Auto Buying experience the benefit of the doubt. I love, love, love Costco 99.99% of the time.... until now. The whole point of the Costco buying experience, according to Costco's auto buying website is that it is a 'PREARRANGED PRICING AND AN EXCEPTIONAL AUTO BUYING EXPERIENCE.' By the way, the 2nd Honda dealership Earnhardt quoted me an extra $600 below what the Arrowhead Honda had, but informed me that this special pricing was part of a package deal and I would need to buy around $2300 worth of dealer added items to my car (e.g., tinting, something called auto caddy, nitrogen in my tires, clear plastic door guards, dealer installed alarm, etc). I don't want to sound like i'm advertising for the other Honda dealership, but do yourself a favor and pull up all the local online Honda websites until you find one that has actually discounted prices for all their models displayed or try using Autotrader or Carguru online. I've decided that anytime the dealer website says I have to call or come in for special pricing it's a bad deal unless I was planning on pitting dealer against dealer and haggling all day anyways.
p.s. I don't blame the actual salesmen who showed me the cars. In both places they were actually very helpful and knowledgeable. Although I have most been meeting the awful type when I have gone to different dealerships just to look at new competing cars from other Manufacturers in the price range I am in.
